Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God

The Holy Spirit is often spoken of as though He is unknowable or mysterious. Many of us struggle to understand the Spirit. What an odd thing for God’s people to say! For the Spirit dwells in us and among us who follow Christ on this side of Pentecost - He is very close to us indeed! But still, we express confusion or even assert the incomprehensibility of the Spirit. At least two things contribute to this perception among God’s people. First, there is a lot of bad teaching about the Holy Spirit in this era of church history. Second, the wideness of the Spirit’s ministry. It is, comparatively, easy to grasp the work of Christ. He was born, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death on our behalf, was buried, raised, and ascended victorious. Check.

On the other hand, the Spirit is at work in so many ways that it can be difficult to synthesize them into easy summary statements. Consider this partial list of the ministries of the Holy Spirit:

He adopts (Rom. 8:15), He baptizes (1 Cor. 12:13), He bears witness (Acts 5:32; Rom. 8:16; 9:1; 1 John 5:6–8), He calls to ministry (Acts 13:2–4), He convicts (John 16:8–11), He empowers (Ex. 31:1–3; Judg. 13:25; Acts 1:8), He fills (Luke 4:1; Acts 2:4; Eph. 5:18), He guarantees (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14), He guards (2 Tim. 1:14), He helps (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 2 Tim. 1:14), He illuminates (1 Cor. 2:10–13), He indwells (Rom. 8:9–11; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19), He intercedes (Rom. 8:26–27; Eph. 6:18; Jude 20; see 1 John 5:14–15) and so on!

Note well, beloved, that this only covers so much! We have only scratched the surface of Scripture’s teaching on the Spirit of God.

So, two human problems lead us to claim the Spirit is difficult to understand—there is bad teaching and lots to teach. Here’s my solution: sing. If the Spirit seems complex and confusing to you, sing of Him. Far more than you realize, you’ll treasure God’s Words about Himself in your heart if you sing a good hymn. Here’s one:

Hymns of Faith #341 - Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

I would suggest that our greatest error before and concerning God the Spirit is forgetting His personhood. He is “He,” not “it.” The Spirit of God is a person who knows things (Is 11:2), speaks things (Acts 11:12), does things (1 Cor 12:11), and feels things (1 Thess 1:6, Eph 4:30). Addressing the Spirit in song, and considering all His works, ways, and wonders, disabuses us such illusions.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)